Setting destinations of electronic mail

ABSTRACT

A recipient selection window being displayed on a display device coupled to an input device via a processor. The input device accepts input from a user for determining recipients of an e-mail message. The recipient selection window concurrently includes: an address list section displaying an electronic mail address book that includes at least one individual name, at least one group name, or both; an address list selection button for selecting the address list section; a first destination section for specifying recipients of the e-mail message; a first destination button for placing a selected name in the destination section if the destination button is clicked; an addition recipient button for placing an addition operation symbol (+) in the destination if the addition recipient button is clicked; and a subtraction recipient button for placing a subtraction operation symbol (−) in the destination section if the subtraction recipient button is clicked.

This application is a Continuation of Ser. No. 10/060,782, filed Jan.30, 2002.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method of specifying destinations ofelectronic mail transmitted to multiple recipients, and moreparticularly, to a method of specifying the destinations of electronicmail transmitted to recipients including both a group name havingmultiple mail addresses and a personal name.

BACKGROUND ART

There has been a known method of communicating characters by electronicmail between information processors such as personal computers having acommunication function in a network such as the Internet or an intranetor between communication equipments such as mobile phones connected to apublic communication line and connectable to the Internet. In thefollowing description, the apparatus capable of communicating byelectronic mail as described above is generally referred to as a“communication terminal.”

When an electronic mail message is transmitted from one communicationterminal to another communication terminal, a mail address specified forthe communication terminal as a destination is specified in an outgoingmail composing window at the one communication terminal, so that theelectronic mail message can be transmitted.

A network such as the Internet or an intranet has at least one mailserver, and a mail server managing the mail addresses of recipients isprovided with mailboxes for the respective mail addresses, anddistributes incoming electronic mail messages to mailboxes correspondingto the mail addresses for storing. A mail server passed through duringtransmission determines the mail address data of a recipient specifiedin the data of the outgoing mail, and transfers the electronic mailmessage to the mailbox of the specified mail address.

The communication terminal, which can transmit and receive electronicmail messages in this way, may transmit the same electronic mail messageto multiple destinations for the purpose of, for example, distributionof bulletins or notification to general users. Therefore, the electronicmail software is generally provided with a function of simultaneoustransmissions to multiple destinations.

In an outgoing mail composing window, for example, if a destination orrecipient field or section is filled with multiple destinationsseparated by commas or semicolons, the communication terminal runningthe electronic mail software determines that the electronic mail messageis to be sent to the multiple destinations, and transmits the electronicmail message with the same contents to the multiple mail addressescorresponding to the names filled in the destination or recipientsection.

In recent electronic mail software, multiple destinations can be groupedand registered under a single group name. Therefore, in such softwareallowing the group registration, a sender may simply specify a groupname as a destination in order to transmit an electronic mail messagewith the same contents to multiple destinations.

The electronic mail software is provided with an address book forrecording destination addresses. The sender does not have to type theaddress of each recipient using the keyboard in composing an outgoingmail message but simply reads out the address book from a storage suchas a hard disk drive in the communication terminal to select and specifythe mail address of the destination.

Not only personal names but also group names can be registered in theaddress book. The address book registered with group names has ahierarchical structure, and the sender, for example, double-clicks agroup name to display a window showing details of the group and canrefer to or edit personal names or mail addresses of all the membersregistered under the group name.

As described above, with a communication terminal running conventionalelectronic mail software, multiple mail addresses can be separated bycommas or semicolons in order to specify multiple recipients(destinations) and send them an identical electronic mail message at atime. Destinations can be more easily input using the address book. Inaddition, an electronic mail message with the same contents can betransmitted to multiple destination by simply selecting a group nameregistered in the address book.

With such a communication terminal running conventional electronic mailsoftware as described above, if a message should not be transmitted toone of the multiple destinations registered under a group name in theaddress book, for example, the group name could not be used to specifythe destinations and individual addresses would have to be specified oneby one from the mail addresses in the address book.

In the above case, if the number of personal mail addresses registeredunder the group name is small, the trouble is of little consequence.However, if the number of mail addresses registered under the singlegroup name is large, selecting all the mail addresses of the groupmembers from the address book should be troublesome and could lower thework efficiency.

Furthermore, in an intranet or the like, a mail server in the networkmay be provided with an address book in which a group name representingmail addresses of all members of the group including a user concerned isregistered, and if the user specifies the group name as a destination, auser's electronic mail message is also transmitted to the userhim/herself.

In order to solve the above problems, a technique has been suggested inwhich registered contents of mail addresses included in a single groupname registered in the address book are read out and edited, and theedited contents are registered under a new group name, before specifyingthe destinations of electronic mail. The new group name can then bespecified as a destination, so that only a relatively simplere-registering operation is necessary for transmitting an electronicmail message to multiple correct destinations even if the destinationsunder the original group name are not entirely in agreement with thedestinations of the electronic mail.

However, with the above method of re-registering the addresses under thenew group name and specifying the name, the items to be registered underthe group name are edited and re-registered before composing an outgoingelectronic mail message, which is cumbersome, and still complicated asin the case of inputting all the mail addresses. In addition, if thenumber of personal mail addresses registered under the group name issmall, for example, specifying all the mail addresses from the addressbook could be quicker. In groupware such as Lotus Notes (TM), only anadministrator can change and register the contents of a public addressbook, and therefore a general user (client) who is not an administratorcannot register a new group name in the public address book. Therefore,a general client user of the Lotus Notes cannot re-register in thepublic address book and specify a new group name.

In order to solve this problem, a known destination selecting methodaccording to the disclosure of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No.10-257051 provides an option which allows the addresses of all themembers registered under a group name to be displayed so that desiredaddresses can be selected therefrom when the destination is specified bythe group name. An electronic mail message is transmitted only to theselected mail addresses under the notation of the group name as adestination. This method could be used by a client user of the groupwarein which the original public address book is not changed and thedestination can be changed only once in transmitting the electronic mailmessage.

According to this method, however, the members of the group whose mailaddresses have been selected would believe all the members of the grouphave received the electronic mail message, while any members left outhave not received the electronic mail message. Therefore, there arisesdisparity in acquired information between the members though they areunaware of it.

In addition, according to the above method, if an electronic mailmessage to group members is to be also transmitted to a mail addressother than the group members, the mail address must be separatelyspecified as a destination in addition to the group name. In that case,the recipient of the electronic mail message at the mail address mightfeel insecure about possible information disparity from the groupmembers because the destination is specified by the mail address.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a solution to the above problemsassociated with the conventional methods, and it is an object of thepresent invention to provide a method of setting destinations ofelectronic mail according to which operation symbols used to increaseand reduce mail addresses of destinations registered as a group arepredefined to increase or reduce the destinations as desired while thegroup name is used as a destination, and the destination items displayedon the recipient side can be selected between the group name only andthe group name together with mail addresses, so that the user can selectwhether to let the recipients be aware or unaware of the addition to ordeletion from the full members of the group.

It is another object to provide a method of setting destinations ofelectronic mail according to which, regardless of the number of itemsregistered under a group name in an address book, some destinationshaving mail addresses not included in those under the registered groupname can readily be specified at the time of selecting destinations inan outgoing mail composing window.

It is yet another object to provide a method of setting destinations ofelectronic mail according to which when a user transmits an electronicmail message under a group name, and the mail address of the user isregistered under the group name in an address book, the destination canreadily be changed so that the electronic mail message is nottransmitted to the user or sender.

In order to achieve the above-described objects, a method of settingdestinations of electronic mail transmitted using electronic mailsoftware from a communication terminal to multiple destinationsaccording to the present invention comprises the steps of predefining inthe electronic mail software an addition symbol to add two destinationsselected from a list of destinations including a group name representingmail addresses of multiple members, and placing the addition symbolbetween one and the other destinations in a destination section on ascreen for composing an outgoing mail to thereby set destinationsincluding the mail addresses of the one and the other destinations.

The addition symbol used in the present invention denotes to the userthat the mail addresses of the destinations located on both sides of theaddition symbol are to be added.

A method of setting destinations of electronic mail transmitted tomultiple destinations from a communication terminal using electronicmail software and using a group name representing mail addresses ofmultiple members registered in a list of destinations according to thepresent invention comprises the steps of predefining in the electronicmail software a subtraction symbol to subtract from one destinationindicated by a group name the other destination, and placing thesubtraction symbol between the one destination and the other destinationin a destination section on a screen for composing an electronic mailmessage to be transmitted to thereby set destinations in which the mailaddress of the other destination is deleted from the mail addresses ofthe members of the group of the one destination.

The subtraction symbol used in the present invention may readily suggestto the user that the mail address of the destination on the right sideof the subtraction symbol is to be subtracted from the mail address ofthe destination on the left side.

A method of setting destinations of electronic mail transmitted tomultiple destinations from a communication terminal using electronicmail software according to the present invention comprises the steps ofpredefining in the electronic mail software an addition symbol to addtwo destinations selected from a list of destinations including a groupname representing mail addresses of multiple members, and a subtractionsymbol to subtract from one destination indicated by the group name theother destination, and placing the addition symbol or the subtractionsymbol between the multiple destinations in a destination section on ascreen for composing an electronic mail message to be transmitted tothereby set destinations in which addition or subtraction is performedon the mail addresses of the destinations.

In the present invention, if the number of the multiple destinations isat least three, the addition symbol and the subtraction symbol may beplaced in the destination section, so that the mail addresses of thedestinations can be subjected to addition and subtraction to set thedestinations.

In the present invention, when the addition symbol and the subtractionsymbol are used to set the destinations, order specifying operationsymbols may be predefined, which are placed to contain the additionsymbol or the subtraction symbol together with destinations therebetweenso that the order of priorities in operation between destination settingby the addition symbol and destination setting by the subtraction symbolcan be specified, and in the destination section on the screen forcomposing an electronic mail message to be transmitted, using the orderspecifying operation symbols, at least one set of destinations may beset from destinations to be added with the addition symbol or subtractedwith the subtraction symbol, and the specified operation may beperformed with priority for setting the destinations.

The order specifying operation symbols used in the present invention mayreadily suggest to an electronic mail user that the operation of themail addresses of the destinations between the order specifying symbolshas priority.

The addition symbol can be used to add a personal name or a second groupname to a first group name to be a destination, the personal name beingother than the members of the first group, if, at the time oftransmitting electronic mail using the electronic mail software, thedestinations of the electronic mail are produced by adding the personalname other than the members of the first group name or the second groupname to all the members of the first group name, the first group nameand the personal name or the second group name may be selected in thedestination section on a screen for selecting recipients by theelectronic mail software, while the addition symbol is entered adjacentto the personal name or the second group name, and if the additionsymbol is in the destination section, the electronic mail software setsthe mail address of the personal name or mail addresses of all themembers of the second group name adjacent to the addition symbol inaddition to the mail addresses of all the members of the first group asthe destinations of the electronic mail.

The subtraction symbol can be used to delete from a first group name tobe a destination an arbitrary personal name of the members of the firstgroup name or a second group name, and if, at the time of transmittingelectronic mail using the electronic mail software, the destinations ofthe electronic mail are produced by deleting an arbitrary personal namein the members of the first group name or the second group name from allthe members of the first group name, the first group name and thepersonal name or the second group name may be selected in thedestination section on a screen for selecting recipients by theelectronic mail software, while the subtraction symbol is enteredadjacent to the personal name or the second group name, and if thesubtraction symbol is entered in the destination section, by theelectronic mail software, the mail address of the personal name or themail addresses of all the members of the second group may be deletedfrom the mail addresses of all the members of the first group name forsetting the destinations of the electronic mail.

In the present invention, if the destinations of the electronic mail areset by adding the mail address of a personal name or the mail addressesof all the members of the second group name to the mail addresses of allthe members of the first group name as one of the multiple destinations,the addition symbol may be selected and placed adjacent to the personalname or the second group name in said destination section, and if thedestinations of the electronic mail are set by subtracting the mailaddress of the personal name or the mail addresses of all the members ofthe second group name from the mail addresses of all the members of thefirst group name, the subtraction symbol may be selected and placedadjacent to the personal name or the second group name, whereby thepersonal name or the second group name can arbitrarily be added to orsubtracted from the mail addresses of all the members of the firstgroup.

In the electronic mail software according to the present invention, inaddition to the first group name, and the personal name or the secondgroup name, a second personal name or a third group name different fromboth the names may be used as one of the at least three, multipledestinations, and if the destinations of the electronic mail are set byusing one of the addition symbol and the subtraction symbol between thefirst group name and the personal name or the second group name, and theother of the addition symbol and the subtraction symbol between thepersonal name or the second group name and the second personal name orthe third group name, the electronic mail software may perform operationfor mail addresses with the one of the addition symbol and thesubtraction symbol, and operation for mail addresses with the other ofthe addition symbol and the subtraction symbol to set the destinationsof the electronic mail.

If the order specifying operation symbols are used in the destinationsection in addition to the addition symbol and the subtraction symbol,the operation given priority by the order specifying operation symbolsmay be performed and then operation by the remaining operation symbolmay be performed sequentially from the left to set mail addresses.

In the present invention, if the destinations of the electronic mailinclude a group name and a personal name set using at least one of theoperation symbols, the electronic mail software deletes the personalname and the operation symbols from the destination name data in thedata to be transmitted before the transmission of the electronic mail sothat only the group name is displayed in the destination section on ascreen displayed at each destination.

The electronic mail software according to the present invention mayproduce a selection screen for inputting the addition symbol, thesubtraction symbol and the order specifying operation symbols in thedestination section on the screen for selecting recipients in order tospecify the destinations of the electronic mail.

In the electronic mail software according to the present invention, ifthe destinations of the electronic mail include a group name and apersonal name set using at least one of the operation symbols, theelectronic mail software may transmit items in the destination sectionof an outgoing mail composing screen as the destinations of theelectronic mail for the destination data in the data to be transmittedso that each of the operation symbols is displayed in addition to thegroup name and the personal name displayed in the destination section ofthe screen displayed at each destination.

In the electronic mail software according to the present invention, anew group name may be assigned to destinations for registration in adestination list, the destinations being set using at least one of anaddition symbol to add two destinations selected from the destinationlist including a group name, and a subtraction symbol to subtract fromone destination indicated by a group name the other destination, andmultiple group names or personal names selected from the destinationlist. Alternatively, a new group name may be registered in a destinationlist, the new group name being given to the destinations set by usingthe addition symbol, the subtraction symbol, order specifying operationsymbols for specifying the order of priorities in operation betweendestination setting with the addition symbol and destination settingwith the subtraction symbol, and multiple group names or personal namesselected from the destination list.

In the electronic mail software according to the present invention, thenew group name may be subjected to operation with another personal nameor group name using at least one of the addition symbol and thesubtraction symbol to set the destinations. Alternatively, the new groupname may be subjected to operation with another personal name or groupname using the addition symbol, the subtraction symbol and the orderspecifying operation symbols to set the destinations.

In the electronic mail software according to the present invention, thepersonal name and the operation symbols may be deleted from therecipient data in the data to be transmitted before the transmission ofthe electronic mail so that only the new group name is displayed in thedestination section on a displayed screen at the destination.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication environment for performinga method of setting destinations of electronic mail according to oneembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the internalconfiguration of the communication terminals in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of electronic mailsoftware stored in the communication terminals in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4(a) is a schematic diagram of the data structure of electronicmail transmitted from a communication terminal;

FIG. 4(b) shows a part of FIG. 4(a) in detail;

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating an example of a window for composing anoutgoing electronic mail message;

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating an example of a window for selecting arecipient input to a destination input part;

FIGS. 7(a) to 7(c) show examples of registered items in an address bookwhich allows group registration;

FIG. 8 is a view illustrating an example of a recipient selection windowwhen a group option is used;

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating an example of a recipient selection windowwhen a destination is subtracted from a group name;

FIGS. 10(a) to 10(h) are examples of windows displaying a receivedelectronic mail message;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method of setting destinations ofan electronic mail message according to the embodiment; and

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating how a mail message is transmittedfrom a communication terminal when destinations are set according to theembodiment.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will be now described with reference to theembodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication environment for performinga method of setting destinations of electronic mail according to oneembodiment of the invention.

Communication terminals 1 to 3 and 51 to 53 in FIG. 1 are, for example,information processors such as personal computers capable ofcommunicating through an intranet 10 or the Internet 30, orcommunication terminals such as mobile phones having an Internetconnection function such as i mode. The intranet 10 is a communicationnetwork such as a LAN (Local Area Network) in a limited area in acorporation, for example, and can be accessed only by a limited numberof people. The Internet 30 is a communication network available to anunspecified, large number of people through a public communication line.The communication terminals 1 to 3 are connected to the intranet 10, andthe communication terminals 51 to 53 are connected to the Internet 30.

The intranet 10 is, for example, provided with a mail server 20 such asDomino (TM) of Lotus Development Corporation, and a mailbox 21 storingincoming electronic mail messages (incoming mail messages) is providedin the mail server 20. Similarly, the Internet 30 includes a mail server40 of, for example, a private provider, and a mailbox 41 storingincoming mail messages is provided in the mail server 40. Thetransmission and reception of electronic mail in the intranet 10 aremanaged by the mail server 20, and a public address book is alsoprovided in the mail server 20. On the other hand, the transmission andreception of electronic mail through the Internet 30 are managed by themail server 40, and each address book is limited to a private addressbook provided in the communication terminal on the sender side.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of the internal configuration ofthe communication terminals 1 to 3 and 51 to 53 in FIG. 1.

Each of the communication terminals 1 to 3 and 51 to 53 includes a mainbody 60 which is an information processor for digitizing and modulatingtransmission signals of outgoing electronic mail messages, and fordecoding and demodulating received signals of incoming electronic mailmessages, a display device 61 for displaying character information suchas an electronic mail message and image information such as a photographor an illustration, and an input device 62 such as a keyboard used toinput directions to the main body 60.

The main body 60 includes a microprocessor (CPU) 71 as a processor fordecision processing and control of various portions, a RAM (RandomAccess Memory) 72 storing dynamically used software such as an operatingsystem and mailing software, a storage device 73 storing receivedelectronic mail messages and data, a communication device 74 forcommunication with the intranet 10 or the Internet 30, and a bus 75connecting the devices with one another so that data can be transferredbetween the devices. The storage device 73 includes a storage medium 76on which data are actually written.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example of electronic mail softwarestored in the storage device 73 or the RAM 72 in the communicationterminals 1 to 3 and 51 to 53.

The electronic mail software 80 includes communication software 81 forcommunication with the intranet 10 or the Internet 30, outgoing mailcomposing software 82 for composing an outgoing electronic mail message,incoming mail display software 83 used to display a received electronicmail message at the display device 61 shown in FIG. 2, incoming mailmanagement software 84 for storing incoming electronic mail messages at,for example, an inbox address or a cabinet address in the storage device73, outgoing mail management software 85 for storing an outgoingelectronic mail message at, for example, an outbox address or a cabinetaddress in the storage device 73, transmitted mail management software86 for storing transmitted electronic mail messages at, for example, atransmitted file address or a cabinet address, and address bookmanagement software 87 for managing registration in, change to, anddeletion from a personal address book.

FIG. 4(a) is a diagram showing an example of the general data structureof an electronic mail message to be transmitted from a communicationterminal, while FIG. 4(b) is a diagram showing in detail a part of thestructure shown in FIG. 4(a).

The source address data of a sender which may be used for reply mail isstored at 90 in FIG. 4(a). The destination address data of a recipientreferred to by the mail servers 20 and 40 in determining where toforward the electronic mail message is stored at 91. Header data of theoutgoing electronic mail message are stored at 92, and text data of theoutgoing electronic mail message are stored at 93. The header section 92contains data indicated at the header of the electronic mail message.

Data related to the sender is stored at 94 in FIG. 4(b), while datarelated to the recipient is stored at 95. Data related to the title orsubject of the electronic mail message is stored at 96, and data relatedto the date and time of transmission is stored at 97. While other headerdata of an electronic mail message such as data in a CC (Carbon Copy)section or recipient data in a BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) section may beincluded, processing of such data is similar to that of the recipientname data 95 and, therefore, is not described.

For example, if the destination of an outgoing electronic mail messageis a group name, and the electronic mail message is transmitted to allthe members of the group, the group name is stored as the recipient namedata 95, and individual address data selected from all the group membersis sequentially stored as the destination (recipient) address data 91for each transmission and, thus, the electronic mail message istransmitted to all the members.

The mail server 20 or 40 determines the forwarding address of anelectronic mail message based on the destination (recipient) addressdata 91 and, therefore, can forward the transmitted electronic mailmessage to the mailbox at the mail address of each group member even ifthe group name is stored as the recipient name data 95. The group nameof the recipient name data 95 is indicated only at the header on adisplay screen for the incoming electronic mail message, and is not usedby the mail server 20 or 40.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a screen or window for composing anoutgoing electronic mail message.

An outgoing mail composing window 100 includes a header field or part101 in which information necessary for transmission and reception of anelectronic mail message is input, and a mail text input part 106 inwhich a text of the electronic mail message is input. The header part101 includes a destination input part 102 in which a personal name of arecipient or a group name is input, a CC destination input part 103 inwhich a name of a person or a group to receive a copy of the message isinput, a BCC destination input part 104 in which a name of a person or agroup to receive a copy without being known to other recipients, asubject input part 105 in which a title or subject of the electronicmail message is input, and address book reference buttons 107 forcalling an address book allowing destinations (recipients) to be inputin the destination input part 102, the CC destination input part 103,and the BCC destination input part 104, respectively, by simpleselection processing.

FIG. 6 is an example of a screen or window used to select a recipient tobe input to the destination input part 102.

The address book is called by the address book reference button 107 anddisplayed at an address list section 112 included in the recipientselection window 110 in FIG. 6, and a name selected from the addressbook is transcribed to a destination section 115 by clicking adestination (To) button 114. Similarly, a selected name is transcribedto a CC destination section 117 by clicking a CC destination button 116,while a selected name is transcribed to a BCC destination section 119 byclicking a BCC destination button 118. The address book can be selectedusing, for example, a selection button 111. A use group option button113 is provided in the recipient selection window 110 to enable a groupoption so that an arbitrary mail address can be deleted from or added toregistered items (mail addresses) in a registered group name.

FIG. 7 illustrates examples of registered items in an address book whichallows group registration.

FIG. 7(a) shows registered items in a typical address book includingboth individual or personal names (displayed together with electronicmail or e-mail addresses) and group names. FIG. 7(b) shows registeredpersonal names (together with electronic mail addresses) of members of afootball club (group name) which are displayed when the football club isselected in FIG. 7(a). FIG. 7(c) shows registered personal names(together with electronic mail addresses) of members of a ceramic artclub (group name) which are displayed when the ceramic art club isselected in FIG. 7(a). More specifically, the displayed items of anormal address book and the displayed items for the personal names ofmembers in a selected group are registered in a hierarchical structure.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a recipient selection window when thegroup option is used.

The recipient selection window in FIG. 8 is different from the recipientselection window in the normal state in FIG. 6 in the followingadditional features.

(1) An address list section 122 for indicating the personal names of themembers of a group as shown in FIGS. 7(b) or 7(c) in addition to thenormal address book shown in FIG. 7(a).

(2) A selection button 121 for selecting the address list 122.

(3) A recipient addition button 131 for inputting an operation symbol“+” to add one destination to another destination to set thedestinations. Note that the destination to be added may be not only apersonal name (personal address) but also a group name.

(4) A recipient deletion button 132 for inputting an operation symbol“−” to subtract or remove one destination from another destination whichis a group name.

(5) A specifying start button 133 and a specifying end button 134 usedto input an operation symbol “(” representing the start of operationwith priority and an operation symbol “)” representing the end of theoperation with priority, respectively, in order to specify the order ofpriorities for the operations when the destinations are set by combiningthe addition symbol “+” and the subtraction symbol “−”.

(6) A personal display deletion button 141 provided to limit thedestination items to be displayed at the communication terminal of arecipient of an electronic mail message only to group names.

(7) An all display button 142 provided to allow all the group names andall the personal names to be displayed at the communication terminal ofa recipient of an electronic mail message.

(8) A destination (To) button 143 provided to apply a selection resultby the personal display deletion button 141 or the all display button142 to the destination section in the communication terminal of arecipient of an electronic mail message.

(9) A destination section 144 provided to confirm the items to bedisplayed in the destination section of the communication terminal of arecipient before transmission. FIG. 8 shows items to be displayed in thedestination section of a recipient when the personal display deletionbutton 141 is selected.

(10) A CC destination button 145 provided to apply a selection result bythe personal display deletion button 141 or the all display button 142to the CC destination section to be displayed in the communicationterminal of a recipient of an electronic mail message.

(11) A CC display section 146 provided to confirm items to be displayedin the CC destination section of the communication terminal of arecipient before transmission.

The addition symbol “+” is a symbol used in an addition expression ingeneral mathematics, and therefore a sender and a recipient who areelectronic mail users can easily imagine that the mail addresses of thedestinations provided on both sides of the “+” symbol are to be added.Also, the subtraction symbol “−” is a symbol used in a subtractionexpression in general mathematics, and therefore the sender and therecipient can easily imagine that the electronic mail address of adestination located on the right side of the “−” is subtracted from theelectronic mail address of a destination located on the left side. Theorder specifying operation symbols “(” and “)” are symbols used forspecifying the order of operations in a general arithmetic expression,and therefore the electronic mail user can easily imagine that theoperation of the electronic mail addresses between the order specifyingsymbols is performed with priority.

In the operation shown in the second row in the destination section 115in FIG. 8, the destinations of the ceramic art club (B) and the signlanguage club (C) are placed between the order specifying operationsymbols “(” and “)” so that the addition of these destinations isperformed with priority, followed by the subtraction of the personalname, “Taro Yamamoto”.

In this way, the operation of destinations to be performed with priorityis placed between “(” and “)” so that the operation can be performedprior to the other operations of destinations.

A group option may be provided by using a sub-window for the recipientselection window in the normal state shown in FIG. 6 rather than byproviding the dedicated recipient selection window in the use of thegroup option as shown in FIG. 8.

FIG. 9 shows a destination subtraction window serving as a sub-windowwhen a group is selected in the recipient selection window in the normalstate in FIG. 6 and one or more members are subtracted (deleted) fromthe group name.

In a group name display section 201 in the destination subtractionwindow 200, a group name selected in the window in FIG. 6 is displayed,while in an address list section 202, personal names and electronic mailaddresses of the members under the group name are displayed.

A selection button 203 is used to select a personal name of a member tobe deleted from the address list section 202. A restore button 204 isused to restore a personal name of a member which has been selected. Anall restore button 205 is used to restore altogether at a time thepersonal names of multiple members which have been selected. Thepersonal names of the members selected by the selection button 203 aredisplayed in a subtraction destination section 206.

Items to be displayed in the destination section 115 in the recipientselection window 110 in FIG. 6 are displayed in a destination section207 where a group name, subtraction symbols and personal names ofselected members are displayed.

An OK button 208 is used if the result of subtracting one or moredestinations from a group name is good (OK) and the result is reflectedin the recipient selection window 110 shown in FIG. 6. A cancel button209 is used to ignore the result of the subtraction if the result is notgood (NG) and the recipient selection window 110 shown in FIG. 6 is tobe regained.

Thus, when a destination is subtracted from a group name, the window inFIG. 6 and the window in FIG. 9 may be combined so that a group optionsimilar to the window in FIG. 8 can be set.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a window displaying a receivedelectronic mail message.

As shown in the general arrangement in FIG. 10(a), an incoming maildisplay window 150 includes a header part 151 indicating informationused for transmission and reception of electronic mail, and a mail textdisplay part 157 displaying a text communicated in an electronic mailmessage. The header part 151 includes a sender display part 152displaying a personal name or address of a sender, a transmitted dateand time display part 153 displaying the date and time of transmission,a destination display part 154 displaying recipient's personal and/orgroup name(s), a CC destination display part 155 displaying recipient'sname(s) to receive a copy of the electronic mail message, and a subjectdisplay part 156 displaying a title or subject of the electronic mailmessage.

FIG. 10(b) shows an example of display in the destination display part154 when the group option is not used and only the football club (A) isselected in the recipient selection window 110 in FIG. 6. In this case,only the group name is displayed in the destination display portion 154.If the group option is used and only the group name is notified withoutshowing any personal name, this window is also displayed.

FIG. 10(c) shows an example of display in the destination display part154 when only a personal name, Ichiro Sato is selected in the recipientselection window 110 in FIG. 6. In this case, only the personal name,Ichiro Sato is displayed in the destination display part 154.

FIG. 10(d) shows an example of a display in the destination display part154 when the group option is used and the football club (A) and IchiroSato are added with the addition symbol “+” in the recipient selectionwindow 120 in FIG. 8. In this case, the group name, the personal name,Ichiro Sato, and the addition symbol are displayed in the destinationdisplay part 154. Here, if the personal display deletion button 141 hasbeen selected, for example, in the recipient selection window 120 inFIG. 8, items displayed in the destination section 144 in FIG. 8 and thedestination display section 154 in FIG. 10(a) are the same as that shownin FIG. 10(b).

FIG. 10(e) shows an example of display in the destination display part154 when the group option is used, the football club (A) and thepersonal name, Ichiro Sato, are added with the addition symbol “+”, anda personal name, Taro Yamamoto, is subtracted with the subtractionsymbol “−” in the recipient selection window 120 in FIG. 8. In thiscase, the group name, Ichiro Sato with the addition symbol, and TaroYamamoto with the subtraction symbol are displayed in the destinationdisplay part 154. Here, if the personal display deletion button 141 hasbeen selected, for example, in the recipient selection window 120 inFIG. 8, items displayed in the destination section 144 in FIG. 8 and thedestination display section 154 in FIG. 10(a) are the same as that shownin FIG. 10(b).

FIG. 10(f) shows an example of display in a mailing list manner. In thiscase, the individual mail addresses of the group members aresequentially displayed following the displayed group name.

FIG. 10(g) shows an example of display provided when no destination isdisplayed. In this case, there is no display in the destination sectionof an incoming electronic mail message or a message such as “nodestination displayed” is displayed.

FIG. 10(h) shows a list of the personal names of group members, which issimilar to the conventional case when an electronic mail message is sentto multiple destinations.

Thus, according to the embodiment, for an item to be displayed in thedestination section on the displayed window for incoming mail at arecipient, it can be selected as desired whether to display only a groupname or both the group and personal names connected with an operationsymbol.

While the examples of FIGS. 10(f) to 10(h) cannot be selected in therecipient selection window 120 in FIG. 8, they can be displayed by, forexample, additionally providing a selection key in the recipientselection window 120.

The CC section is desirably displayed in the manner as shown in FIG.10(h). This is because when a recipient of an electronic mail messagecomposes a reply mail message, the items at the CC section may be usedas they are, and therefore the conventional display is desirable.

According to the display examples shown in FIGS. 10(d) and 10(e), theoperators or operation symbols according to the present invention couldnot be perceived if the electronic mail software used by the recipientis not the same as that used by the sender. However, if they can beperceived, the recipient can immediately acknowledge the destinations.

According to the display example in FIG. 10(b) in which only the groupname is displayed, if the group option has been used and the recipienttransmits a reply mail message with the group name, there might be arecipient of the reply mail message who has not received the originalelectronic mail message but receives only the reply mail message or,conversely, has received the original message but does not receive thereply mail message. However, despite such possible confusion, any addedrecipient can be aware of affiliation to the group, and any subtractedmember of the group cannot be recognized by other group members.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method of setting destinations ofelectronic mail according to the embodiment.

In the flowchart, it is assumed that the user of the communicationterminal 1 in the intranet 10 in FIG. 1 composes an electronic mailmessage for transmission to the communication terminal 51 connected tothe Internet 30. However, the flowchart may be applied similarly to thetransmission and reception of an electronic mail message within theintranet 10 between, for example, the communication terminals 1 and 2,and also to the transmission of an electronic mail message to thecommunication terminal 1 in the intranet 10 from the communicationterminal 51 connected to the Internet 30.

The flowchart of FIG. 11 will be now described in detail in conjunctionwith FIGS. 1 to 10.

The user of the communication terminal 1, for example, uses the outgoingmail composing software 82 to invoke the outgoing mail composing window100 on the display device 61 of the communication terminal 1 (step S1).The user then directly inputs mail addresses of transmissiondestinations in the destination input part 102 using the input device62, or invokes the recipient selection window having the address bookdisplayed by clicking the address book reference button 107 (step S2) toinput the mail addresses in the destination input part 102.

When one or more destinations are input in the destination input part102 using the address book, the user of the communication terminal 1determines whether the destinations include a group name (step S3). If agroup name is included (YES in step S3), the user determines whether ornot to use the group option (step S4). If no group name is included (NOin step S3), one or more personal names of destinations are selected orwritten in the destination input part 102 (step S13).

If the group option is used in the step S4 (YES in step S4), forexample, the use group option button 113 is clicked in the recipientselection window 110 for outgoing mail in the normal state shown in FIG.6, and the recipient selection window 120 for outgoing mail shown inFIG. 8 is invoked (step S5).

In the recipient selection window 120, using the selection button 111,the address book to be used is selected and displayed, and using theselection button 121, the mail addresses of all the members in aregistered group are displayed. A row therein is clicked and highlightedfor selection, and the destination button 114 is clicked to select agroup name or a personal name for display in the destination section 115(step S6).

When a personal name is added to a group name, the recipient additionbutton 131 for inserting the addition symbol in the destination section115 is clicked, then the personal name to be added is specifiedsimilarly to step S6 and the destination button 114 is clicked. When apersonal name is deleted from a group name, the recipient deletionbutton 132 for inserting the subtraction symbol in the destinationsection 115 is clicked, and the personal name to be deleted is specifiedsimilarly to step S6, and the destination button 114 is clicked. Whenthe order of priorities in operation is specified, the specifying startbutton 133 for inserting the leading order specifying operation symbolbefore an operation expression with priority in the destination section115 is clicked, and after the operation expression with priority, thespecifying end button 134 for inserting the trailing order specifyingoperation symbol in the destination section 115 is clicked (step S7).

Thus, the mail address of any individual can be added to or deleted fromthe destination (recipient) of a group name. For example, the user canreadily delete an electronic mail message addressed to the userhim/herself when a common address file for an intranet is used tospecify destinations.

The user of the communication terminal 1 then determines whether or notthe destinations indicated in the destination section 115 are OK (stepS8). If they are OK (YES in step S8), destination items to be displayedat the communication terminal 51 of the recipient of the electronic mailmessage are selected (step S9). When only a group name is to bedisplayed in the destination section of the recipient, the personaldisplay deletion button 141 is clicked and then the destination button143 is clicked, so that selected personal name and operation symbol aredeleted from the items in the destination section 144, and only thegroup name is displayed. When not only the group name but also thepersonal name and the operation symbol are to be displayed in thedestination section of the recipient, the all display button 142 isclicked and then the destination button 143 is clicked, so that the sameitems as those in the destination section 115 are displayed in thedestination section 144.

In the above selection of the display items, if the personal displaydeletion button 141 has been used, a recipient indicated by a personalname can receive an electronic mail message addressed to group members,which eliminates possible disparity in information between the recipientand the group members, while a sense of alienation caused by her/his notbeing a member of the group can be overcome. If the all display button142 has been used, it is readily recognizable that the same message isreceived not only by the group members but also a recipient indicated bya personal name, so that the recipient who clearly does not belong tothe group does not have to worry about the information disparity.

The user of the communication terminal 1 then determines whether or notthe destination items in the destination section 144 are OK (step S10).If they are OK (YES in the step S10), it is finally determined whetheror not all the destinations are OK (step S15). If the destinations areOK (YES in step S15), the composed electronic mail message istransmitted (step S16), while if they are not OK (NO in step S15), theprocess returns to step S2 to invoke the recipient selection window.

If the group option is not used in step S4 (NO in step S4), an addressbook to be used is selected and displayed using the selection button 111of the recipient selection window 110. A group name residing in a row inthe address book is clicked and highlighted for selection, and then thedestination button 114 is clicked to select the group name, which isselected and displayed in the destination section 115 (step S11).

The user of the communication terminal 1 then determines whether or notthe group name in the destination section 115 is OK (step S12). If thegroup name in the destination is not OK (NO in step S12), the processingin step S11 is repeated, while if the destination group name is OK (YESin step S12), a personal name in the address book is clicked andhighlighted for selection, and then the destination button 114 isclicked, so that the personal name for the destination is selected anddisplayed in the destination section 115 (step S13). It is thendetermined whether or not the personal name for the destination in thedestination section 115 is OK (step S14). If the personal name for thedestination is not OK (NO in step S14), the processing in step S13 isrepeated, while if the personal name for the destination is OK (YES instep S14), the process proceeds to step 15 described above for finaldetermination as to whether or not all the destinations are OK.

The operation of inputting a destination in the CC destination section117 in FIG. 8 is similar to the process from steps S3 to S14 describedabove except that the destination button 114, the destination section115, the destination button 143 and the destination section 144 arereplaced by the CC destination button 116, the CC destination section117, the CC destination button 145 and the CC destination section 146,respectively.

The operation of inputting a destination in the BCC destination section117 in FIG. 8 is similar to the process from steps S3 to S14 except thatthe destination button 114 and the destination section 115 are replacedby the BCC destination button 118 and the BCC destination section 119,respectively, excluding steps S9 and S10.

The operation of transmitting an outgoing electronic mail message havingdestinations input as described above in a mail composing window will benow described.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating how a mail message is transmittedfrom a communication terminal after the destinations are set accordingto the embodiment.

When the destination input part 102 in the window for composing anoutgoing electronic mail message as shown in FIG. 5 has been specifiedas described above, the outgoing mail management software 85 or thecommunication software 81, for example, at the communication terminal isused to determine whether or not operation symbols are present in thedestination section (step S21). If there is no operation symbol (NO instep S21), the electronic mail is transmitted according to the itemsinput in the destination section. If there is any operation symbol (YESin step S21), it is determined whether or not a pair of order specifyingsymbols such as “(” and “)” are included (step S22). If there are suchorder specifying symbols (YES in step S22), an operation with priorityin the order is extracted from the destination section (step S23). Ifthere is no order specifying symbol (NO in step S22), it is thendetermined whether or not there is a group name to be operated in thedestination section (step S24).

If there is a group name included in the destination section (YES instep S24), the group name is expanded and stored as a group of personaladdresses in a storage medium such as RAM (step S25). It is thendetermined whether or not there is a subtraction symbol following thegroup name (step S26). If there is the subtraction symbol (YES in stepS26), it is determined whether the personal address to be subtracted isa member of the group from which the address is to be subtracted (stepS27). If the personal address to be subtracted is a member of the group(YES in step S27), the personal address to be subtracted is deleted fromthe stored personal address group and then the resultant group isre-stored (step S28). If the personal address to be subtracted is not amember of the group (NO in step S27), which indicates an operationerror, the operation processing is terminated.

If no group name is included in the destination section (NO in stepS24), it is determined whether or not the addition symbol is included inthe destination section (step S29). If there is the addition symbolincluded (YES in step S29), the personal address is added to the storedpersonal address group, or two personal addresses connected by theaddition symbol are added together and stored (step S30).

If there is no addition symbol (NO in step S29), it is determinedwhether or not the operation input in the destination section is over(step S31). If the operation is not over (NO in step S31), the processreturns to step S23 and the operation with the next priority isextracted from the destination section. If the operation is over (YES instep S31), the stored personal address group is read out (step S32), andan electronic mail message is sequentially transmitted to thedestinations (step S33). Each time the electronic mail message is sent,it is determined whether or not the electronic mail message has beentransmitted to all the personal addresses (step S34), and if it has notbeen transmitted to all the addresses (NO in step S34), the processreturns to step S32 to read out from the stored personal address group.If transmitted (YES in step S34), the transmission processing isterminated.

In the embodiment described above, the items (destinations) input in thedestination section using the operation symbols and the personal addressgroup expanded from a group name are stored in a temporary storagemedium such as a RAM and used only at the time of transmittingelectronic mail, in other words, they are not exactly a destination listas registered in an address book or the like stored in nonvolatilestoring means such as a hard disk drive. However, the items input in thedestination section or the personal address group may be provided with anew group name for registration in the address book and later reused asa destination.

More specifically, the electronic mail software may be implemented suchthat destinations set using at least one of the addition and subtractionsymbols and multiple group names or personal names selected from thedestination list may be provided with a new group name and registered inthe destination list. Similarly, destinations set using the orderspecifying operation symbols in addition to the addition and subtractionsymbols, and multiple group names or personal names selected from thedestination list may be provided with a new group name and registered inthe destination list.

The electronic mail software may be implemented such that when the newgroup name registered as described above is used, using at least one ofthe addition symbol and the subtraction symbol, the new group name maybe operated with another personal name or group name to set thedestinations. Similarly, using the addition symbol, the subtractionsymbol, and the order specifying operation symbols, the new group namemay be operated with another personal name or group name to set thedestinations.

The electronic mail software may be implemented such that when the newregistered group name is used, the personal names and the operationsymbols may be deleted from the recipient name data in the data to betransmitted before transmission of electronic mail, so that only the newgroup name is displayed in the destination section in the displayedwindow of the recipient.

As described above, according to the embodiment, the operation symbolsto add and delete a mail address of a recipient registered as a memberof a group can be predefined. As a result, the number of recipients canbe increased or reduced as desired when a group name is used as adestination. Therefore, for example, even if an electronic mail messageis sent under a group name and a sender's mail address is included inthe group registered in the address book, the destination can readily bechanged so that the electronic mail message is not sent to the sender.

Also, according to the embodiment, the destination items to be displayedon the recipient side can be selected between a group name only and thegroup name together with mail addresses, and therefore the sender canselect whether to let the recipients aware or unaware of the addition toor deletion from the full members of the group.

Also, according to the embodiment, items (destinations) input in thedestination section with each operation symbol or a personal addressgroup expanded from a group name may be provided with a new group name,which is registered in an address book to reuse it as a destination.Therefore, if the user wants to send an electronic mail message to theprevious destination (new group name), the new group name is read fromthe address book and the destination is set simply by placing the namein the destination section.

Since the destination indicated by the new group name registered mayfurther be modified using the operation symbols, any change in thedestination can be coped with in a flexible manner. Also, since thesender can select display of only the new group name in addition to theconventional all destination display for destination indication at therecipients, an added recipient can be aware of affiliation to the newgroup, while a deleted member of the new group cannot be recognized byother members of the new group.

Also, according to the embodiment, the recipient selection window foroutgoing mail is used at the time of using the group option, so thatregardless of the number of items registered under a group name in theaddress book, the sender can readily specify destinations having mailaddresses partly different from the registered group name at the time ofselecting destinations in the outgoing mail composing window.

While, in the embodiment, the operation symbols “+”, “−”, “(”, and “)”are used for addition and subtraction of a destination, and specifyingan order, other symbols obvious to indicate addition, subtraction ororder specifying may also be used. For example, “&” or “AD” may be usedas a symbol indicating addition, and “{” and “}” may be used forspecifying an order.

The configuration of the communication terminal, the architecture of theelectronic mail software and the arrangement of the displayed windowsare described simply by way of illustrating the present invention, andother configuration, architecture or arrangement may be employed toimplement the present invention.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

As described above, according to the present invention, operationsymbols used to add and delete a mail address as desired to and fromdestinations registered as a group are predefined in electronic mailsoftware in a communication terminal. Therefore, when an electronic mailmessage having a group name as a destination is sent, any member can bedeleted from the registered items under the group name, or a mailaddress of a person who is not a group member can readily be added.

Also, according to the present invention, when a destination is added toor deleted from the group name, items to be displayed as destinations ofthe electronic mail message at the recipients may be only the group nameor may also include the name added or deleted, so that the sender canselect whether or not to let the recipients be aware of the addition toor subtraction from the full members of the group.

Also, according to the present invention, the recipient selection windowfor outgoing mail is provided, which allows members within a group andoperation symbols to be readily specified, when the group option isused. Therefore, regardless of the number of items registered under agroup name in the address book, the sender can readily specifydestinations having mail addresses partly different from the registeredgroup name at the time of selecting destinations in the outgoing mailcomposing window.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, even if the mailaddress of the sender is registered under a group name in an addressbook residing, for example, in a mail server of an intranet, and anelectronic mail message is sent under the group name, using theoperation symbol, the mail address of the user can be deleted from thedestinations specified under the group name, so that the electronic mailmessage is not transmitted to the sender.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, destinations or apersonal address group formed by the operation symbols can be registeredunder a new group name and reused as a destination, so that the newgroup name can be read from the address book and placed in thedestination section the next time the sender wants to send anotherelectronic mail message to the same destination.

Also, according to the present invention, since the destinationindicated by the new group name registered may further be modified usingthe operation symbols, any change in the destination can be coped within a flexible manner. Furthermore, since the sender can select displayof only the new group name for destination indication at the recipients,an added recipient can be aware of affiliation to the new group, while adeleted member of the new group cannot be recognized by other members ofthe new group.

1. A recipient selection window being displayed on a display device of asender communication terminal, said display device coupled to an inputdevice via a processor, said input device configured to accept inputfrom a user for determining recipients of an electronic mail (e-mail)message, said recipient selection window concurrently comprising: anaddress list section displaying an electronic mail address book thatincludes at least one individual name of an individual, at least onegroup name of a mailing group, or a combination thereof; an address listselection button for selecting the address list section; a firstdestination section for specifying recipients of the e-mail message; afirst destination button for placing a selected name in the destinationsection in response to the destination button being clicked by the user,said selected name identifying a recipient of the e-mail message andbeing an individual name that is highlighted in the address list sectionor a group name that is highlighted in the address list section; anaddition recipient button for placing an addition operation symbol (+)in the destination section in response to the addition recipient buttonbeing clicked by the user, said addition operation symbol configured tocause an individual name or a group name appearing immediately to theright of the addition operation symbol to be added to individual orgroup names appearing to the left of the addition operation symbol; anda subtraction recipient button for placing a subtraction operationsymbol (−) in the destination section in response to the subtractionrecipient button being clicked by the user, said subtraction operationsymbol configured to cause an individual name or a group name appearingimmediately to the right of the subtraction operation symbol to beremoved from individual or group names appearing to the left of thesubtraction operation symbol.
 2. The recipient selection window of claim1, further comprising: a start button for placing a start operationsymbol of a left parenthesis in the destination section in response tothe start button being clicked by the user; an end button for placing anend operation symbol of a right parenthesis in the destination sectionin response to the end button being clicked by the user such that theend operation symbol appears to the right of the start operation symbol;wherein individual names, group names, addition operation symbols, orsubtraction operation symbols appearing between the start operationsymbol and the end operation symbol are adapted to be processed togetherwith priority relative to any individual names, group names, additionoperation symbols, or subtraction operation symbols that appear in thedestination section not between the start operation symbol and the endoperation symbol.
 3. The recipient selection window of claim 1, furthercomprising: a personal display button for specifying that only the groupnames and not the individual names appearing in the first destinationsection are to be displayed at a recipient communication terminal ofeach recipient of the e-mail message, in response to the personaldisplay button being clicked by the user; and an all display button forspecifying that the group names and individual names appearing in thefirst destination section are to be displayed at the recipientcommunication terminal of each recipient of the e-mail message, inresponse to the all display button being clicked by the user.
 4. Therecipient selection window of claim 3, further comprising: a seconddestination button; and a second destination section for listingparticular recipients of the e-mail message in response to the seconddestination button being clicked by the user, said particular recipientsof the e-mail message listed in the second destination section to bedisplayed at the recipient communication terminal of each recipient inaccordance with whether the personal display button or the all displaybutton has been clicked by the user.
 5. A communication apparatuscomprising a first communication terminal that is displaying therecipient selection window of claim 1, wherein the first communicationterminal consists of the sender communication terminal.
 6. A method forsetting destinations of electronic mail through use of the recipientselection window of claim 1, said method comprising: displaying therecipient selection window; and sending the e-mail message to therecipients appearing in the first destination section in response to atleast one button having been clicked by the user, said at least onebutton comprising the first destination button and at least onerecipient button selected from the group consisting of the additionrecipient button, the subtraction recipient button, and a combinationthereof.
 7. Electronic mail software stored in a computer-readablememory device, said electronic mail software utilizing the recipientselection window of claim 1, said mail software comprising: software fordisplaying the recipient selection window of claim 1; and software forsending the e-mail message to the recipients appearing in the firstdestination section in response to at least one button having beenclicked by the user, said at least one button comprising the firstdestination button and at least one recipient button selected from thegroup consisting of the addition recipient button, the subtractionrecipient button, and a combination thereof.